Courtesy of: Aruba Daily
ARUBA – Last Saturday afternoon a huge sea turtle made her nest in front of Manchebo Beach Hotel. It is the first nest of the season. Normally sea turtles nest at night. They are scared by artificial lights, so we have to leave them in the dark and no flash photography was allowed.
But Saturday more than 100 people could witness the complete nesting process (about two hours). Tortugaruba (the local foundation that protects the sea turtles) informed the onlookers and placed barriers around the nest after the turtle had returned into the sea. The incubation of the eggs will take 60 – 70 days, so this first nest will probably hatch at the end of May
The Leatherback Sea Turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) do not live in the Caribbean, but in the Northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. A female returns every 2 to 5 years to lay her eggs on the same beach where she herself was born. This female was nesting on Aruba before, in 2009 and 2011.
The two beautiful pictures of this Leatherback Sea Turtle were made by Armando Goedgedrag.
Info: www.facebook.com/Turtugaruba of Turtle Hotline 592 9393
